oliverandmoose.

Saturday, 26 November 2022

Toddler Gifts Under $25

Wow, this is my first post back since August 2019. I'm sure I've lost a lot of followers since then, and may have possible gained some new ones.

I had a major career change in 2022, which I now am in charge of running recreation and sports programs for kids and youth with disabilities. One big thing about this though, is it has changed what I would even mildly want to be interested in (for the better).

For my first article back, I wanted to share some great Christmas gifts under $25 for toddlers. Did you know that around 5-6% of children struggle with fine motor skills, including grasping or eating. Below are five products that would help improve a toddler's fine motor skills, as well as many other age-appropriate skills.

Acacing Montessori Dinosaur | this dinosaur makes an excellent sorting toy with spikes and all! Kids can mix the spikes, sort different colours and put them in a row. Kids learn colour recognition, sorting and counting with this dinosaur.

Susimond Toddler Busy Board | this busy board is designed with 22 different games, including zippers, buttons, clocks, weather learning games and so much more! This busy board is incredible for developing life skills, as well as improve hand-eye coordination. It is definitely worth the $25.00

Sheirying Dinosaur Building Block Stacking Toy | these build blocks have a cute shape with both dinosaurs and animals. With bright colours and lots of ingenious hands-on abilities, there items are a must-have this holiday season!

LEADSTAR Montessori Wooden Cheese | this cheese threading toy gives children an incredible opportunity to develop hand flexibility and hand-eye coordinator through mastering the wood through the cheese.

Melissa & Doug Primary Lacing Beads | brightly coloured wooden bead set includes five distinct shapes that are great for grasping. The lacing beads are great for helping children develop strong fine motor, cognitive, and visual skills; as well as hand-eye coordination.

There are many great other products out there, and I would love to share some more! Let me know your thoughts below!

Life Lately & My Blogging Thoughts

Hi, good morning!
I've taken a bit of an unplanned hiatus after losing Moose because it was simply too hard to focus on a blog where half the name belonged to him.

It's been a tough month. I've laughed, I've cried, I've held Oliver while he cried looking for Moose, I've spent a lot of my time consoling Oliver and Mater through this. It's hard losing a pet, especially when they're only 4.

Over the past month, I've been thinking long and hard about my blog and where I want to go from here. I'm debating starting completely fresh and rebranding. The only things that I have on here that were ever truly successful were my heart posts, which I can simply transfer onto my new blog. I've started to develop interests in things that I never thought I would (knitting, baking, canning, freezer meals, etc) and I'd love to start fresh with things I've been doing around here instead of the same old posts I was doing over here. It's going to be a long and hard process to start from the ground up, but I think I'm ready for the challenge. I'll be sure to share my new info once it's ready.

Thank you again for all the lovely comments, emails and conversations I've had over the past three years on Oliver and Moose, it's really helped me become the person I am today.